Winter Haven, FL (March 14, 2025) – The Golden Bears' softball team played their final two games in Florida on Friday. They would take down Mount Saint Mary College 12-1 in five innings of game one. Marley Rodriguez picked up five RBIs and went 4-for-4 from the plate. The team would drop game two versus Ithaca College in 10 innings, 4-3.

Game 1: Western New England 12, Mount Saint Mary College 1 (5 Innings)

The Golden Bears started quickly, with four runs in the first inning alone. Marley Ordirugez would drive Angelees Carrasquillo home from second with a single. Then, with the bases loaded, Evelyn Picone doubled to right center, which drove two runs home. WNE led 3-0. Gracie Hemstock followed that hit with an RBI by popping out to shortstop deep in the infield. That brought a run home, and WNE led 4-0. MSMC pitcher Peyton Dost would get out of the inning by striking out the final two WNE batters. MSMC would get three hits in a row, all singles, before WNE's pitcher Ava Blanchard got the final two outs, including a strikeout. The Golden Bears loaded the bases at the top of the second with two outs, but Dost would get out of the inning. Blanchard would see three batters and sit down three batters in the bottom of the second. The Golden Bears extended their lead in the third. With the bases loaded and no outs, Shea McDaniel singled to center field and drove home one run. Then, after MSMC got an out, Marley Rodriguez sent a hit into left field, and the single brought two runs home. Grace MacDonald would then enter as the pitcher for MSMC and get out of the inning. WNE led 7-0 after the top of the third. Blanchard made it seven outs in a row with three more in the bottom of the third. In the fourth inning, Marley Rodriguez picked up two more RBIs. WNE would load the bases with two outs, and Rodriguez would slap a double and bring home two. WNE led 9-0. Brianna Cardona entered as the Golden Bears' pitcher in the top of the fourth inning. MSMC would have two on and one out before Samantha Stallone hit a single into center field, which brought home a run, and MSMC was on the board. Cardona picked up the next two outs, which included a strikeout, and WNE led 9-1 going into the fifth inning. The Golden Bears started the fifth with two singles and a walk. Then, with no outs and the bases loaded, Katherine Brooks hit a single into left field. That brought one run home. Then, with bases loaded and one out, Katelyn Bailey slapped a single into center field, and WNE scored another run. The last WNE run was scored by Angelees Carrasquillo with a groundout to first. That RBI made it 12-1 going into the bottom of the fifth inning. Riley Kane entered as the pitcher for the fifth and final inning of play. Kane got the first two batters to ground out to second and shortstop. Then, after a single, Kane got the final batter to ground out to shortstop, and the Golden Bears were victorious, 12-1, in five innings.

Around the Diamond:

• Marley Rodriguez led the Golden Bears with a 4-for-4, five RBI, and one double performance from the plate.
• Gracie went 2-for-3, with an RBI from the batter's box in game one.
• The team had three extra-base hits, with Rodriguez, Alex Ferriouolo, and Evelyn Picone having doubles.
• Ava Blanchard would record the win after pitching three of the five innings, striking out two batters, and only allowing three hits.
• Brianna Cardona and Riley Kane each pitched an inning in relief, giving up a combined three hits and Cardona having a strikeout.
• Madison White led MSMC from the plate by going 2-for-3. Samantha Stallone had the lone RBI for MSMC.
• The MSMC pitchers let up 15 Golden Bear hits combined but accumulated six strikeouts.
• The Golden Bears won the contest 12-1 in five innings.

Game 2: Ithaca 4, Western New England 3 (10 Innings)

The game began with Evelyn Picone in the pitching circle for the Golden Bears, but after getting an out, Riley Kane would enter the game in the first and pitch the rest of the ten-inning game. Cate Murray would open the scoring for Ithaca with a ground ball to third base.  A fielder's choice would lead to a run coming home before Murray eventually was called out. However, Ithaca led 1-0 after the top of the first. Anna Cornell started in the pitching circle for Ithaca and immediately started the game with three quick outs, including a strikeout. Kane would see four batters in the second and struck out two batters before getting out of the inning. A pitching battle began to brew during this contest. The bottom of the second saw Cornell strike out three of the four batters faced. Kane answered with three consecutive outs, with a strikeout. The bottom of the third saw WNE load the bases with two outs. However, Cornell got the final batter to ground out, and Ithaca still led 1-0. The fourth inning saw more of the pitching battle. Kane faced four batters and got three outs. Cornell struck out all three WNE batters in the bottom of the inning. Kane answered with three more outs, including a strikeout in the top of the fifth. The bottom saw Cornell do the same. Kane got all three batters faced in the sixth to ground out, and it was the offense's time to excel. Riley Kane would lead the charge on offense too. Kane singled with a runner on second and two outs to bring a runner home and tie the game 1-1. However, the top of the seventh saw a one-out fly out to left field, scoring a runner, and Ithaca had the lead. Kane struck out the final batter for Ithaca, and WNE needed a run to keep the game alive. The bottom of the seventh saw Taylor Brunn enter the game as the Ithaca pitcher, and then the first batter walked. Then, two outs would move the runner to third before Angie Carrasquillo bunted to second base and got to first base. That drove the runner home, and WNE tied the game 2-2, sending the game to extra innings. The eighth saw both pitchers see three batters and get each out without a run scoring. In the ninth inning, Ithaca scored on a Cate Murray fly out to center field, and a run was scored before the runner at first was thrown out at second to end the inning. Ithaca led 3-2, going into the bottom of the ninth. With WNE down to their final out once again, Kim Baumann delivered a bunt to second, which scored a run, and the game was tied 3-3. At the top of the tenth inning, Anna Bello reached first base on an error and scored a run. Ithaca led 4-3 at the end of the top of the tenth after Kane got the final two batters out. The Golden Bears would have runners on first and third with one out, but Brunn got the final two batters out, and Ithaca won the game 4-3 in 10 innings.

Around the Diamond:

• The Golden Bears saw five batters get a hit, all singles.
• Angelees Carrasquillo, Kim Baumann, and Riley Kane each had RBIs for the Golden Bears.
• Riley Kane struck out five batters and gave up two earned runs and three hits during the game. Kane pitched 9.2 innings.
• The Ithaca pitcher recorded 11 strikeouts and gave up five hits and two earned runs. Anna Cornell had nine strikeouts.
• Three Ithaca batters recorded hits. Cate Murray and Anna Bello recorded two RBIs each. Murray recorded a double during the game.
• Ithaca defeated WNE 4-3 in ten innings.

Up Next:

The Golden Bears will jump into conference play for their next set of games on March 29, 2025, at noon and 2:00 PM at Nichols College in Dudley, Massachusetts.